Tim M

Not being that much of a gear head, what is a good 1/4 mile time for a car in this price range?

William3

Here's some data out of Sep 2008 issue of Road And Track magazine:

qtr mile time / price / car

11.7 $79595 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
11.7 $92535 Dodge Viper SRT10
11.8 $72880 Nissan GT-R
12.4 $93660 Mercedes E63 AMG Wagon
12.5 $63930 Mercedes C63 AMG
12.5 $70395 BMW M3 Coupe
12.5 $70670 Shelby GT500 Super Snake
12.6 $56185 Chevrolet Corvette
12.6 $64205 Lexus IS F
12.6 $94815 Porsche 911 Carrera S
12.6 $98525 Jaguar XKR Coupe
12.8 $43765 Ford Shelby GT500

stopcrazypp

I remember reading somewhere that it was Lotus that suggested Tesla keep the open diff, but I don't remember the reason.

I know there was a previous discussion on quarter miles but there wasn't really a comparison between the price points. So I'll try to answer Tim M's question.
I'm going to list the quarter mile times of all the coupes/convertibles I can find in the $90k-120k range avaliable in the US. (I realized there are "bargain" cars like the Z06, SRT-10, and more recent GTR & ZR1, but I'm not including those b/c they do MUCH better than par for their prices. Some times are from 2007 since I couldn't find the 2008 times, but I made sure the car was pretty much unchanged) The list is sorted by price:

13.3 @106mph (Edmunds 2007) 2008 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupe $113,400

13.5 @104mph (Motor Trend) 2008 Maserati GranTurismo Coupe $110,000

12.8 @110.2mph (Edmunds) 2008 Audi R8 Coupe quattro $109,000

12.9 (Manufacturer) 2009 Tesla Roadster Convertible $109,000
2008 Tesla Roadster Convertible $98,000

12.2 @ 116.1mph (Edmunds 2007) 2008 Porsche GT3 Coupe $107,500

13.9 @101.5 (Edmunds 2007)2008 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class CL550 Coupe $103,600

13.4 @107.3 (Manufacturer 2007) 2008 Panoz Esperante GT Coupe $103,040

12.8 (Edmunds) 2008 BMW M6 Convertible $106,100
2008 BMW M6 Coupe $100,300

12.9 @ 112.3 mph (Road & Track 2007) 2008 Cadillac XLR-V Convertible $99,160

13.5 @ 104.4mph (Motor Trend 2007) 2008 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL550 Roadster $95,300

13.0 @ 109mph (Edmunds 2007) 2008 Porsche Carrera S Cabriolet $94,100

12.9 @ 110.9 mph (Motor Trend) 2009 Jaguar XK-Series XKR Convertible $93,400

I don't think I missed any significant ones (again keep in mind I left out Z06, SRT-10, ZR1, GTR, etc on purpose). 12.9 of the Tesla isn't that bad, 12.8-12.9 is pretty much the "mode" here in this price range. The standout is the GT3, but the Porsche is pretty much almost a "bargain" sports car itself.

For fun you can see the closest gasoline car to the Tesla in terms of performance, handling, looks, chassis, etc:

2008 Lotus Exige S 240
List Price: $64,890 Touring Package: $1600 (pretty much need this if you want leather, sound proofing, carpet, & other standard stuff since it doesn't come on the base model) so $66,490.
240hp, 170lb-ft, 2077lbs
0-60: 4 seconds (manufacturer)
quarter mile: 13.0 sec @ 104.5 mph (Road & Track)

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stopcrazypp

Would have saved some time if I read that first. What context is the list for? Since it is sorted by the 1/4 mile it is probably showing all the best quarter miles. My list is more looking at typical quarter miles for cars in the $90-120k range.

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TEG

Don't forget that Tesla makes it very easy to achieve their optimal numbers each and every time (if needed), whereas most of those other cars have manual transmissions and require "perfect" shifts to achieve the published results. In practice, "real world" for many of those other cars falls far short of the "best case" numbers you find published.

TEG

Also, for around $30K, you could get a high boost turbo Japanese econo-box (on steroids) that has the potential to come close.

stopcrazypp

This is the reason why I didn't want to include what I call "bargain" cars or in other words, "most bang for your buck" cars. Those type of cars can already beat other gasoline cars that are twice its price, so the Tesla will have a hard time matching that given its low volume and expensive batteries (you can tell this already given how much cheaper the Exige S 240 is compared to the Tesla even though they are so similar). I think the Tesla is pretty much typical in its 1/4 mile time compared to other cars in its price range.

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William3

Very very true. Also, all those times that the magazine posted were at sea level. ICE cars get slower with altitude. On the other hand, ICE cars get faster as the gas tank gets used up. The Tesla gets slower as the battery pack gets used up.

The Tesla Roadster costs $130K (not 99K as some people think). When you add the typcial options, roof, and charger, you're basically at $130K. Obviously you can find some cars that cost as much (or more than) the Tesla Roadster but aren't as fast in the qtr mile, but those cars ooze luxury, are comfortable, have nice interiors, and come with a million features. The Roadster is marketed as bare-bones performance, and the salesman told me "faster than a Ferrari and all the other exotic supercars". It clearly is not faster than all the exotic supercars. In fact, it's not faster than hardly any exotic supercar. I purchased the Tesla Roadster mostly because I don't have to buy gasoline for it. A 12.9 quarter mile time is pretty darn good, and I really hope the Roadster lives up to it. Just don't let the Tesla folks deceive you into thinking that you'll have the fastest car on the road, 'cause it just ain't so. Ten years ago 12.9 would have beaten anything, but now days there are some really impressive cars driving around out there.

How did I turn my "differential" thread into a soapbox about quarter mile? Sorry to everyone about that.

[Moderator's note: This post a several around it were moved from the differential thread. Please excuse the few remaining non sequitur references to the topic of that thread. Feel free to edit your own posts for clarity.]

stopcrazypp

I think this is directed at me? I was just comparing base price (all the prices for the cars I listed were base price) so I looked in the $90k-$120k range to correspond with the $109,000/$98,000 base price of the Tesla Roadster. The "as tested" price of those can also be higher by the $1000s to more than $10k higher than the base price. At $130k that is $20k higher than the base price, so that is a little more than typical.

You raise some good points. I think pretty much all of us are aware the Tesla is not faster than all the exotic supercars, esp in the 1/4 mile (we are in the middle of a new age horsepower war so this is to be expected), and that the interior amenities are definitely not anywhere as luxurious or feature laden as many of the cars listed. But still we are excited about this car because it is electrically powered, and for me it's fairly amazing how it can still get this performance with just 1 gear. I think Tesla can get even more performance from it just making a working multi-speed gear box, though it might impact range (such a move will also make a higher top speed possible).

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vfx

Don't forget many of those cars come with DMV gas hog penalties and very high priced tune ups. The Tesla has (at least in CA) tax incentives over $5K and a few less moving parts to adjust.

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